Alarm signal apparatus



March ,10, 1931. .1; 1,795,843

ALARM SIGNAL APPARATUS Filed April 6, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1v Match 10,1931. E, J, DEARY 1,795,843

ALARM SIGNAL' APPARATUS Filed April 6, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 cEN'TiQALINVENTOR Patented Mar. 16, 1931 its Tomes f EDWARD J. DEARY, F BROOKLYN,NEW YQRK, ASSIG-NGB TO AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,A CGRPQEATLEQN OF NEW YORK ALnni/r sienna APPARATUS Application filedAnn 6, 1926. Serial No. 100,028.

My invention relates particularly to apparatus for sending in s1gnalselectrically from various stations arranged on a common line.

The main object is to. provide simple and reliable mechanism for sendingin signals 1n such a manner that they will not interfere with eachother. I The invention is directed particularly to what are commonlytermed pull boxes. A

number of these boxes are ordinarily arranged at various points in abuilding or plant intended to be protected and all of these boxes areconnected by acommon circuit to a central station of some sort. Whentrouble occurs adjacent'any one of the sub-stations the nearest boxispu'lled or released. This box mechanism is then automatically drivento send in an alarm indicating the particular box which is operating.When a given box is operated, it automatically opens both arms of theline so that the subsequent operation of boxes further awayfrom'thecentral station will not send. in any alarm until after thenearest box has completed its action, and

1 also automatically puts ashunt or short circuit across the twoout-going wires, before the wires forming the circuit to the boxesfarther away from the central oflice are opened, thus preventing anyinterference with signals at central. When the nearest box completes itssignal, the circuit is automatically restored to its initial positionready to transmit any signal which may come from any further station. I

Fig. 1 is a rear view of one formofmechanism embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a View from the right hand edge of Fig. 1.

from the side oppocentral'station being shown in the position in whichit would be when the box is fully wound and showing how the farther boxis cut-out by the action of the nearer box.

Although the invention relates primarily to an auxiliary switchand amethod of operating it, I have shown and will describe the completemechanism so that the operations may be better understood. 7

The main spring 10 has oneend fixedor connected to the stationary stud11 and the other end connected to themain sha'ft12 so that the'springtends to drive or turn the main shaft in a clockwise direction as viewedfrom the rear in Fig. 1or in. anti-clockwise direction .whenviewed fromthe front.

The parts are all earned by a frame consisting of the front plate 13,the back plate' 14 and connectingposts 15. The springis held. in placeby an auxiliary plate 16..

The pull lever 17 is mounted on a shaft 18 which has a spring 19 on itsrear end which spring tends to turn the handle 17 in a clock? wisedirection when viewed from the front. A lever 20 is secured to the shaft18 and is normally pressed against the stop 21 by the action of thespring 19.

The 01111101122 on theshaft 12 meshes with a gear segment 23 carried bya sleeve 24 which is rotatable on the shaft 18. The lever 20 carries apawl 25 which normally engages apawl 26 carried by the gear segment 23,these pawls being both spring pressed toward the axis of the shaft 18.The gear segment 23 is normally pressed toward the abutment 21 by theaction of the main spring 10.

The signal wheel 30 is carried by a shaft 31. The gear 32 on the mainshaft 12 meshes with a pinion 33 which is rotatable on the shaft 31 andat times independently thereof.

A ratchet wheel 34, having but one tooth, is

secured to the pinion 33 so thatthey rotate.

together. The gear-35 which is secured to shaft 31 carries a springpressed pawl 36 which normally engages the tooth of the ratchet 34. Thewig-wag or vibrator 37 which controls the speed of the mechanism isoperated by the toothed wheel 38.- The pinion 39 secured to rotatewithwheel 88:1neshes .withzgear 35'.

second grounded signal wheel 30?-.maybe. -employed. when, a. separate,,signalthrough ground is desired. j .These may be slightly out of stepso as to'producethe effect of staggered signals.

lever 17 is pulled antiaclockwise las viewed from the front.

made acomplete revolution and its tooth again engages the pawl 36.-NVhen the pull lever '17 is released the spring 19 returns it to itsnormalposition of rest as shown in the drawings. .VVhen the-pawlleavesthe pawl 26 the latter tiltsinwardly slightly under the impulse ofits spring so that' if the handle 17 is again pulled the pawl 25 willclear the pawl- 26 and it will be impossible to interfere with theoperation of the -mechanism until thesegment 23 and pawl 26havc returnedtotheir normal. positions. i Atthe sametime the main spring rotates'theshaft- 12, the gear'32, the pinion 33, ratchet 34, pawl 36, gear 35, theshaft 81 and signal wheel 80. At the same time the .gear 22. on the mainshaft 12 is returning the gear segment 23 to its normalposition"ofrest.As thepawl 26 -strikes the abutment 21 its tip is forcedoutwardly intoposition'to. be engaged by'the pawl 25 on the operatinglever 20.

Features of the structure above. described are more fully described inthe p atentto'I-Ienry E. Reeve i i-1,697,140 dated Jan. 1 1929. Theswitch Orcut-Out-Which controls the circuit beyond the box consists of;switch members. 413; 1 1, 45. 4:6..and47. Thes-latter is carried by-butinsulated from an .armrpiv voted at48 and normally. held under tensionor" the spring .9 in the position'shown-.-in

1 so that the switch members 4:3.and' :45

are .in contact with each other and theswitch members 44. and as are in-.contact.-wi,theach other. On the rear end .ofithe main shaft 12Iprovide a sleevez50 which rotateswiththe shaft both in'the windingand-unwinding 'movements; OIITthlS sleeve I-mountanoper-.ating..memberwhich tor'convenience I will term a cam:51. T his ispreferably ofinsulating material and is connected to. theisleeveiin suchawayas to permit the'sleeve to havea limite d freedom of movement:withrespect-to thecamf' This-connection is 'eflecte'd bymeans "of a pin'52. secured to theasleeve and projectfrom one end as shownin Fig. Sanda, slot '53 inoneISideofIthecam. :Thecam is. pro- F vided with a notchor groove 54; inviwhicha 53. When it is desired to operate the box thefinger or projection 55 on the switch member cam also has one or moresmaller notches 56 adapted toreceivethe-finger'55 while theswitch-isstill-in the short circuited position ,of- Fig. 5.

,, These smaller notches serveto yieldingly hold the cam while the alarmis being sent until the pin 52 reachesthe end of the slot The-.notches56' are not necessary but serve to hold the cam while the pin 52 ro-.atatesainh lslo This winds up the main -spring and rotates the ratchetmemberB l-in Tan anti-clockwise direction as viewed from -=the frontuntil the ratchet member 84: has

In Fig. 7 I have shown diagrammatically 'a- -system with two boxes. Thereference numbers on'the lower box are those heretof-ore useddndescribing the details otthe mechanism; The referencenumerals on the-pa-rtsq'of: the upper box correspond with the -others except that" Ihave used the prime marks to distinguish. The elements are signalwheel30, circuit breaker members 10' and-"41, switch contacts 42%,144, 15,16, switch memberefi, spring' li), sleeve 50, cam 51'. pin'52, groove53,not'ch 544, finger '55 and notchv 56. The circuit includes aconductor 60,-connected to-switch. member '43, conductor 61 whichconnects switch mem 'ber 45 to the switch member 43, the conduc- -tor62connecting switch member 15 with the next box beyond (not shown). Thecentral station may contain any suitable form of relay and annunciatormechanism such as R1 and R2-and batteries B; and the signal wheel -ofeach box as well as the apparatus at the rentral station .is: groundedas usual in grou'nded circuit systems and as illustrated in'Fig;Therein. :The conductor 63 connects -thecentral station with the circuitbreaker 6.5.to th-e-next box beyond (not shown). The

two sides of the line are connected to the ayariousi signal boxes andthe conductors such as 62 and 65 from the last box in the line are.connectedtogetheras indicated at X in Fig.

7 so that the entire system has a circuit which -is.normallylclosed'thruthe wires and the various signalboxes.

When? the. box is pull'ed the main spring is wound up and theshaft 12and sleeve 50 are .rotated"antirclockwiser, as viewed from the rear inFigs. 1 and 5 until the pin 52engages -avhat. is;.the-right hand endsofslot 53 as viewed 6'. ;,Gontin-ued rotation of :the: shaft: 12 inwindingup I the spring rot ates :theacamtwith the pin ,52 and sleeve 50;..ancl

45, and 44 from 46.

thus forcing the finger 55 out of the notch ='In case the line 60 isbroken'then the signal will besentthru the circuit 63, 40, 41,30 toground. Similarly, if the line 63 is broken 54 and tilting the switcharm 47 into the position shown in Fig. and in the bottom box of Fig. 7.This electrically connects the switch contacts 43 and 44 through themember 47 and at the same time separates them from the contacts45 and46.

It will thus be seen that both sides of the circuit of the next boxbeyond are broken by e the separation of the switch member 43 from I Nosignal therefore I which can subsequently come from the farther boxeswill be transmitted to the central 44 and 46 remained in contact Whilesignal wh eel wassending an outer box could also station. When thehandle of the nearer box which has been pulled is released the drivingspring of course starts to rotate the signal mechanism to send 1n thealarm, thecircult under these conditions extendlng" through theconductor 63, circuit breaker members and 41, switch members 44, 47,

43 and conductor 60. The shallow notch 56 in the cam 51 causes suficientdrag on the cam to prevent it from rotating by the mere has beencompleted. The cam is shown'in' its normal position at 51 in the top ofFig. 7.

When the box is pulled (fully) the cam takes the position shown in thelower part ofFig. 7. When the box is running the.

sleeve and pin 52 at one instant occupy the position of Fig. 5. Theparts are so arranged that the box closest to the central office willalways have control of'the line when operating and positively cut outall. boxes beyond it. The operation of the noninterfering device is notaffected by a ground or open circuit on the main line since the signalcircuit will always be completed through the signal wheel 30 and itsground. return even though line 60 or 63 is broken.

If the circuit were not broken between 46 and 44 and/or 45 and 43 whenthe inner or lower box is pulled any other box could send 7 in itssignal at the same great confusion.

' The ground necessary to complete the signal circuit in case either ofthe lines is broken. The normal circuit thru the apparatus when nosignal is being sent maybe traced from the central station thru thefollowing elements: 60, 43, 45, 61, 43, 45, 62 to 65, 46, 44, '41, 40,64, 46, 44, 41, 40, 63 to the central station.

When the box having the signal wheel 30 is pulled and the lines 60 and63 are unbroken, the circuit will be traced from the central stationthru 60, 43, 47, 44, 41, 40, 63 to the cen tral station. V

Each time a tooth of the signal wheel leaves the contact member 41 fromcontact 40 a sigtime, thus causing from the signal wheel 30 isnalimpulse will be sent to the central station.

the circuit will-run from centralthru 60, 43, 47, 44, 41, 30 to groundand, of course, the

signals are sent whenever the contact 41 instance, by. separating 48from 45 and 44 r from 46.

T1118 is necessary because 1f, for lnstance,

be operated *and its signal would be sent thru the circuit from groundto 30", 41, 40', 64, 46, 44, 41, 40, 63 tolcentral and its usual ground;

We mightthus have'two signalsbeing sent in at thesame time or, at anyrate, such of the signal of the outer box would be-received as continuedif the inner box had stopped operating which would confuse the signals.

Iclaim:'--"

1. Mechanism of the character described comprising a shaft, a cam havinga lost motion connection with said shaft, a switch arm operated by saidcam, two pairs of switch members, the members of each pair beingnormally in contact with each other and the pairs being insulatedffromeach other and a contact carried by said arm adapted to connect onemember of each pair and simultaneously separate the members of each-pairfrom each other, a code wheel driven with said shaftand contactsactuated by said code wheel and in circuit with said switch mem-.berstwo pairsof switch members, the members of each pair being normallyin contact with each other and the pairs being insulated from each otherand a contact carried by said arm adapted to connect onemember ofeachpair and separate the members of eachpair from each other and meansdriven by saidshaft for operating said switch armand said signalwheel'in sequence.

3. S1gnal mechanismcomprising two pairs of switch members, the membersof each pair being normally in electrical contact with each other, andone member of one pair being normally connected to one member of theother pair and the other members of the pairs being normally notconnected with each other, a clrcuit breaker having twoarms normallyelectrically connected, one of said arms being electrically connected toone of the switch members, a signal code wheel for actuating the latterarm to separate the arms, and

mechanism for separating the members of the pairs of switch members andconnecting the members ofthezpairs which are normally not connected witheach other. before the: signal =code wheel actuates the circuit.breakerl and automaticallyv restoring the switch members to normalcircuit relation-when the signal action is completed.

' l; A-grounded two-wire alarm apparatus comprising a series of boxmechanisms each having a circuit breaker and two switches, one of saidswitches having two arms con nected on one side of the line and theother switch having two arms connected on the other side of the line,all' of the circuit breakers and all of the switches being-normallyconnected-in closed circuit relations-,a

signal wheel in each box for-grounding one side of its circuit breakerand for separating themembers of said circuit breaker, and mechanism ineach box for opening; both switches in said box in advance-of the actionof the signal wheeland electrically connecting one arm of each switchtoone arm of the other switch and completing a signal path throughgthe'circuit breaker and closing both switches when the signal action iscompleted.

I 5. A normally closed two wiregrounded alarm system comprising acentral statlon, a

1 normally closed circuit leading therefrom comprising an outgoing andan incoming wlre connected in series with agrounded source'of energy,signal means in each of said wires, a plurality of box mechanismsinterposed in said circuit each comprising two normally closedsignalling contacts connected" in series in one of said wires,-in theportion thereof leading to the central station, a grounded code wheelhaving means for applying ground to said contacts and separating them, aswitch comprising two normally closed contacts serially included in saidone wire in the portionthereof leading to the box ahead, another switchcomprising two normally closed contacts included in the other wire,means, for separating the normally closed contacts of both ofsaidswitches and connecting the contact of the first switch which isconnected to the code wheel operated contacts and the contact of thesecond switch the signal wheel.

which is connected to the portion'of'the wire leading towards thecentral station and means for first operating the separating andconnecting means and thereafter operating EDWARD annanY.

